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Who was Anthony Kim?


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Hey everyone I keep coming across posts about Anthony Kim on Instagram because it’s his birthday I guess. Before a hour ago I never had even heard the name and have been trying to look up info about him. From my understanding he was a well liked golfer in the late 2000s but somehow got injured and had some strange insurance placed on him. My understanding is that this insurance would pay him if he were unfit to play thus not pursuing him to return to the tour. Am I correct with this understanding? 

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I'm not sure entirely what's kept him away from the tour but he shows up from time to time in news stories. He was a hell of a player when he was on tour but went through some injuries and then just kind of fell off the map. Super popular guy amongst the tour players and the fans while he was out there. Lots of people would love to have him back out there, myself included, but seems his game suffered heavily with the injuries and I think he's not all that interested in playing professional golf anymore.

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He's probably best known for making 11 birdies in a single round at the 2009 Master's. Won 3 or 4 events on tour and played in a Ryder Cup and a President's Cup.

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Anthony Kim was fun and exciting with a sweet, sweet swing and the ability to score and not feel pressure. He also liked to party a little bit too much from the stories that went around, but bottom line his injuries racked up way too quickly. He came on fast with a bunch of wins and faded away just as quickly with the injuries, and his habit of not giving interviews and being pretty private just adds to the legend. 

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I played with Anthony Kim when he was living in Traverse City for a summer with his coach at the time (Adam Schriber).  He had just finished either his sophomore or junior year at Oklahoma.  Weird situation - totally estranged from his family and sleeping on his coach's couch (Adam is an interesting character in his own right).  Had developed a reputation locally in just a month of being mercurial and half-crazy.
I had no idea with whom I was playing when I arrived at the course, just that my pro (a good friend of Adam's) and I were going to be paired with two of Adam's best players.  As I was warming up on the range, I heard a thud behind me unlike any other in golf (and I have had the opportunity to play with plenty of D1 players, many of whom played on the PGA tour).  I stopped hitting balls and just watched - had never seen someone control a ball like that. Turns out to be Anthony Kim.
We were playing on my favorite course on which I had done some of the preliminary scouting for the architect (Tom Doak).  It was a remarkable 18, links style front 9 and Northern Michigan wooded on the back.  It was a fantastic test of golf and to score low you had to be able to move the ball left and right as well as vary trajectories.  I played to a 2 at that time and the best I had scored there was a 76.  
First hole, knowing that I had course knowledge, Kim approaches me and asks for some guidance off the tee.  I point to a tree in the distance and tell him 260-270 yards on that line is perfect.  I expected him to pull driver or maybe 3 wood but instead he grabs his 4 iron.  Ball explodes off the face at stinger height on the exact line I had described.  Hit the darned thing 260 almost on the number.  Honestly was like that the whole day and he shot either 64 or 65 and left a few out there.  He apparently shot 61 and 62 there within a few weeks of my round with him.  I never saw Tiger in person in his prime but I will say that Anthony Kim was the best ballstriker I ever witnessed first hand.
 
 
 


Kingsley Club? Or Crystal Downs?

That is amazing you got to play with AK!!!
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AK was my favorite. Great personality, beautiful swing, and he won at Quail Hollow, YOUNG! Dude was GOOOOOD!

 

 

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14 hours ago, Nttom said:

Hey everyone I keep coming across posts about Anthony Kim on Instagram because it’s his birthday I guess. Before a hour ago I never had even heard the name and have been trying to look up info about him. From my understanding he was a well liked golfer in the late 2000s but somehow got injured and had some strange insurance placed on him. My understanding is that this insurance would pay him if he were unfit to play thus not pursuing him to return to the tour. Am I correct with this understanding? 

That's pretty much the gist of it. Speculation is that if he takes so much as one swing in a professional capacity that he loses all that insurance money he's being paid. I've heard rumors of people spotting him on a driving range or course every once-in-a-while though. Whether or not there's any truth to the rumors and speculation remains to be seen. Regardless, he was a skilled player and it's sad he's no longer on tour.

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Ah man! I missed the opportunity to play that one. I went to college there from 03-05 on and off. Bummer that they turned it into a hops farm. That was a beautiful track!

Agreed. A travesty IMO, and anyone who knows me knows I LOVE hops, LOLZ!


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On 6/19/2019 at 8:19 PM, bellairemi said:

I played with Anthony Kim when he was living in Traverse City for a summer with his coach at the time (Adam Schriber).  He had just finished either his sophomore or junior year at Oklahoma.  Weird situation - totally estranged from his family and sleeping on his coach's couch (Adam is an interesting character in his own right).  Had developed a reputation locally in just a month of being mercurial and half-crazy.

I had no idea with whom I was playing when I arrived at the course, just that my pro (a good friend of Adam's) and I were going to be paired with two of Adam's best players.  As I was warming up on the range, I heard a thud behind me unlike any other in golf (and I have had the opportunity to play with plenty of D1 players, many of whom played on the PGA tour).  I stopped hitting balls and just watched - had never seen someone control a ball like that. Turns out to be Anthony Kim.

We were playing on my favorite course on which I had done some of the preliminary scouting for the architect (Tom Doak).  It was a remarkable 18, links style front 9 and Northern Michigan wooded on the back.  It was a fantastic test of golf and to score low you had to be able to move the ball left and right as well as vary trajectories.  I played to a 2 at that time and the best I had scored there was a 76.  

First hole, knowing that I had course knowledge, Kim approaches me and asks for some guidance off the tee.  I point to a tree in the distance and tell him 260-270 yards on that line is perfect.  I expected him to pull driver or maybe 3 wood but instead he grabs his 4 iron.  Ball explodes off the face at stinger height on the exact line I had described.  Hit the darned thing 260 almost on the number.  Honestly was like that the whole day and he shot either 64 or 65 and left a few out there.  He apparently shot 61 and 62 there within a few weeks of my round with him.  I never saw Tiger in person in his prime but I will say that Anthony Kim was the best ballstriker I ever witnessed first hand.

 

 

 

Man...I need more AK stories injected straight into my veins! That's so awesome. Thanks for sharing. 

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The reason he does not play anymore is a very large insurance policy that made it so he would never have to work again. Why grind and travel and all of that if you do not have to and still have millions in the bank? He was a fun kid to watch. A perfect example of a flash in a pan. A star that burned bright but not long. 

It is pretty well known that he was a bigger fan of partying than playing golf as well. 

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One of the major golf publications did a piece on AK prior to the Masters.  It may have been Golf Magazine.  It was a good read if you can find it. 

I followed AK and Rory the final 36 holes of the 2010 Wells Fargo in Charlotte.  Rory made the cut on the number and shot a weekend 66-62 to win by 4 shots for his first career PGA Tour win.  Him and AK were going back and forth all day that Sunday and it was an absolute pleasure to witness.  At one point, AK hit his second to a few feet on (I think) #9 from the dead center of the fairway.  Rory had driven it in the right side fairway bunker.  AK said "top that big boy" (only he didn't say boy).  Rory hit his approach out of the fairway bunker inside AK, smiled at him and said "like that!"

It was fun to witness!  AK had as much natural talent as anyone who has ever played the game and is full of charisma.

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Nice to see that people remember him

I have nothing to add beyond he did used to grip down on the club significantly which made for a unique look at set up.

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I remember reading about a driving range exhibition Kim and Tiger gave together.  Someone asked how they hit a fade and Tiger went into a fairly long explanation that talked about set up and swing changes.  Kim said something along the lines of "I just think fade."

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